The Ladder of Jacob, composed in the 1st or 2nd century AD at the latest, has been preserved only in Slavonic, which is itself clearly a translation from a now lost Greek version. The book is an expansion of the biblical account of Jacob’s dream found in Genesis 28:11–19. Chapter 7 (7–8 here) is thought by some to be a later Christian development of the text.
[[1 Now Jacob went to his uncle Laban, and he found a place and fell asleep there, laying his head on a stone, for the sun was set: and there he saw a vision.]] And behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, whose top reached to Heaven. And the top of the ladder was a face as of a man, hewn out of fire. Now it had twelve steps up to the top of the ladder, and on each step up to the top were two human faces on the right and on the left—twenty-four faces seen to their breast, on the ladder. But the middle face was higher than them all, which I saw made of fire, to the shoulder and the arm, very terribly, more than the twenty-four faces. And as I looked, behold, the messengers of God ascending and descending thereon, but the Lord was set above it, and He called me, saying, “Jacob, Jacob.” And I said, “Here I am, Lord”; And He said to me, “The land whereon you sleep I will give to you and to your seed after you: and I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand of the sea; through your seed all the earth will be blessed, and they that dwell thereon, to the last times, the years of the end. My blessing with which I have blessed you will pour out from you to the last generation. All in the east and the west will be full of your seed.”
And when I heard it from above, fear and trembling fell on me, and I rose up from my dream. And while the Voice of God was yet in my ears, I said, “How dreadful is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven.” And I set up the stone that was under my head for a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it, and I called the name of that place the house of God. [[And I prayed to God and said,]] “Lord God of Adam—Yours—and Lord God of Abraham and my father Isaac, and of all whose ways are right before You, You that sit mighty on the cherubim and on the throne of the majesty, of fire and full of eyes, as I saw in my dream; that holds the cherubim with four faces, that bears the seraphim full of eyes, that bears the whole world under His arm, and is borne of none. You have established the Heaven for the glory of Your Name. You have spread out on the clouds of the heavens the heaven that flies [[or rests]] under You, that under it You may move the sun and hide it in the night, lest it be held for God. You have ordained the way for the moon and the stars, and You make her to wax and wane, but for the stars, You have commanded them to pass over, lest these also should be supposed gods. Before the face of Your majesty the six-winged seraphim fear, and hide their feet and their face with their wings, and with the others they fly, and sing . . . . . . Highest, with twelve faces, many-named, fiery, lightning-formed, Holy One! Holy, Holy, Holy, Yah the Lord, Yah’El, Sabakdos, Chabod, Sabaoth, Omlelech, Elaber, Ame, S’me Barech, Perpetual King, [who is] strong, mighty, very great, long-suffering. [The] Blessed One that fills the heavens, and earth, and the sea, and the abyss, and all ages with Your glory. Hear my song with which I have praised You, and grant me my petition for which I pray to You, and show me the interpretation of my dream. For You are strong, and mighty, and glorious, a holy God, the Lord of me and my fathers.”
And while I yet spoke my prayer, there appeared a voice before my face, saying, “Sarekl, prince of them that rejoice, you that are over visions, go make Jacob to understand the interpretation of the dream which he saw, and show him all things, whatever he saw, but first bless him.” And the chief-messenger Sarekl came to me, and I saw: it was a face . . . terrible. But I did not fear before his look, for the face which I had seen in my dream . . . was more than this, and I did not fear the face of a messenger. And the messenger said to me, “What is your name?” And I said, “Jacob.” [He said to me,] “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but your name will be like my name, Israel.” And when I came from Fandana, in Syria, to meet my brother Esau, he came to me and blessed me, and called my name Israel, and did not tell me his name until I adjured him, and then he told me: “Because you were . . .”
But this he said to me: “The ladder which you saw, which had twelve steps having two human faces which changed their appearance—now this ladder is this age, and the twelve steps are the times of this age, and the twenty-four faces are the kings of the lawless heathen of this age. Under these kings [[your children’s children and the line]] of your sons will be tried: they will rise up against the lawlessness of your descendants and will lay this place waste through four descents [because] of the sins of your descendants, and of the substance of the forefathers this palace will be built in the temple of the Name of your God and your fathers; but through the wrath of your descendants it will be desolate until the fourth descent of this age; for you saw four visions [[or faces]].”
“The first that stumbles on the steps . . . messengers ascending and descending and faces in the midst of the steps: the Most High will raise up an heir of the descendants of your brother Esau, and all the lords of the nations of the earth will accept it, who have done evil against your seed, and will be given into his hand, and he will be hardly borne by them. But he begins to rule them with violence and to reign over them, and they cannot resist him, until the day when his decree goes forth against them to serve the idols . . . . . . and to all them that appear in such a cause, and so many [[to the Most High out of your race, and]] so many to Thalkonagargael.”
“And know, O Jacob, that your seed will be strangers in a strange land, and men will mistreat them with bondage and lay blows on them daily, but the Lord will judge the people whom they serve. When a king arises and fights, then there will be to that place . . . then your seed, even Israel, will go forth out of the bondage of the heathen who ruled over them with violence, and will be set free from all reproach of their enemies. For this king is the head of every revenge and retribution of them that make attacks on you, Israel. And [at] the end of the age—for the miserable will rise and cry, and the Lord hears them, and will be softened, and the mighty lets Himself pity their sufferings, because the messengers and chief-messengers pour out their prayers for the saving of your race. Then their women will bear much fruit, and then the Lord will fight for your race.”
[[1 “But whereas you saw messengers descending and ascending on the ladder, in the last times there will be a Man from the Most High, and He will desire to join the upper with the lower. Before His coming, your sons and your daughters will prophesy of Him, and your young men will see visions of Him. For there will be such signs as these at the time of His coming: a tree felled by the axe will drop blood; boys of three months old will speak rationally; a child in its mother’s womb will proclaim His way; a young man will be as an old man. And then comes the Expected One, whose path will be perceived by no man. Then the earth will rejoice, because it has received the glory of Heaven. That which was above will be below. And a royal Root of your seed will grow up; and He will increase and destroy the power of the evil one, but He Himself will be a Savior of the heathen, and the rest of them that are weary, and a cloud which shades the whole world from the heat, for otherwise that which is disordered could not be put in order, if He did not come: otherwise, that which is below could not be joined to that which is above.”
1 “Now at His coming images of brass, and stone, and all graven things will utter their voice for three days long. 2 And they announce to the wise men and let them know what will befall on earth, and by the star they will know the way to Him, when they see Him on earth whom the messengers do not see above. 3 Then the Almighty will be found in a body on the earth, and encompassed by the arms of a mortal, and He renews the state of man and restores [Adam and] Eve that died through the fruit of the tree. 4 Then the deceit of the godless one will be overcome, and all idols fall on their faces, for they will be put to shame by one who is adorned with honor, because they made lying inventions. 5 From then on, they will not have power to rule or to give prophecies, for their honor will be taken from them, and they will remain without glory. 6 For He that has come takes the power and might from them and repays to Abraham the truth [[or righteousness]] which He promised him. 7 Then He rounds off all that is sharp, and He makes every rough thing smooth, and He casts all unrighteousness into the depths of the sea: and He does wonders in Heaven and on the earth. 8 And He will be wounded in the midst of the house of the beloved. But when He is wounded, then also the saving and the end of all corruption draws near. 9 For they that have wounded Him will themselves receive a wound which will not be healed for them forever. 10 But all creatures will worship the Wounded One, and many will hope on Him, and everywhere, and among all the nations, He will be known. But they that have known His Name will not be put to shame. And His own might and His years will not fail forever.”]]